HEALTH, SAFETY AND THE ENVIRONMENT

2009 was strongly affected by two fatal accidents in which three people died. At Hydro Power Plant Svandalsflona in Odda municipality, two men were killed while working to remove fallen debris from an operating tunnel. At Veidekke’s construction site Kjøsnesfjorden, a man was killed in an accident while removing blast rock from a tunnel.

Injuries

In 2009, Veidekke recorded an injury rate (number of lost-time injuries per million hours worked) of 5.7 (4.5). In the first two quarters the positive trend from the end of 2008 continued with a decrease in the injury rate. This turned in the third quarter, and the injury rate continued to increase throughout the rest of the year.

In the Norwegian operations the injury rate at year end was 5.2 (2.9), while in Sweden it was 7.6 (7.8) and in Denmark 6.6 (9.2).

Veidekke works systematically with the HSE and places great emphasis on the registration and treatment of all injuries and accidents as a means to reducing risk and the number of incidents. Experience shows that focus on undesirable incidents leads to a safer workplace. We work actively with participative processes together with our partners, and HSE is a natural part of this work. During the year we have also worked to increase our risk management expertise.

Sickness absence

Throughout 2009 we had an increase in sickness absence in our operations. Sickness absence has increased in Norway and Sweden, while Denmark, which had a lower rate of increase, stabilised at the end of the year.

For craftsmen in the Norwegian operations, sickness absence in 2009 was 7.4 percent (6.8 percent), while it was 4.5 percent (3.9 percent) in Sweden and 3.2 percent (3.1 percent) in Denmark.

Sickness absence for all employees in Norway in 2009 was 5.7 percent (5.3 percent), in Sweden 3.1 percent (3.0 percent) and in Denmark 2.4 percent (2.2 percent).

Prevention of sickness absence has a high priority throughout the Group. When we recognised that increasing absence was primarily long-term and that it constitutes the largest share of sickness absence, we increased focus on preventive health care, particularly musculoskeletal disorders, in the whole business. We also placed emphasis on increasing knowledge in this area. We are also actively pursuing measures to reduce exposure to hazardous substances.

Environment and greenhouse effect

It is Veidekke’s ambition to be a leading player in our industry when it comes to reducing CO₂ emissions and taking care of the environment. Concern for the environment shall form an integral part of all our operations, and consideration for the environment is shown at all stages of our projects – from planning, designing and production through management, operation and maintenance to demolition, segregation and recycling. Concern for the external environment is incorporated in the entities’ management systems. Most of the impact on the external environment is related to energy use, waste, noise, the use of health and environmentally hazardous substances, materials and natural resources, and to biological diversity. Veidekke works continuously to minimise the impact of its operations on the external environment. This is done through teamwork and transfer of experience within the Group, and through interaction with external players.

Veidekke’s most important contribution to reducing energy consumption in society is to influence our customers to build new homes and other buildings that have low lifetime energy consumption, and to assist in the renovation of existing buildings to lower their consumption to a sustainable level. Veidekke has helped to develop and build Miljøbygget (environmentally friendly building) for KLP Eiendom in Trondheim as an Enova Model Building. This is likely Norway’s most energy efficient office building and Mid-Norway's new landmark. Veidekke’s participative building processes have led to a wide range of energy-smart initiatives that were not originally part of customer thinking, and have helped secure excellent project implementation.

In Denmark, Hoffmann has developed an advanced ventilation and energy consumption management system, called Optimera, which has received considerable attention among our customers, and can quickly result in reduced energy consumption even in existing buildings.

In Sweden, the first TellHus brand apartments have been sold with construction commencing in spring 2010. The concept is in the process of being “Swan” labeled (a Nordic environmental branding scheme), which will be the first Swan-branding of multi-residential buildings in Scandinavia. The organisation in western Sweden has achieved ISO₂ 9001 and 14001 safety and quality certificates. In Norway, Veidekke Property initiated cooperation with the Norwegian Asthma and Allergy Association (NAAF). Through the residential project Årvollbrinken in Oslo, we are working with NAAF to improve the quality of indoor air in new homes developed and built by Veidekke.

In all Scandinavian entities, Veidekke is actively working to reduce the use of products containing substances listed as hazardous and or have undesirable properties. Environmental requirements have been included in contracts with subcontractors, and substitution seminars for construction managers. In Norway, Climate and Pollution Control Directorate (formerly SFT) conducted a series of controls in the industry over the past year, and Veidekke received good feedback on its systems and procedures for handling hazardous waste. Our recycling activities received over 250 000 tonnes in 2009 and have provided secure destruction and recycling of waste. In addition, significant amounts of contamin-ated soil have been cleaned and made reusable.

Veidekke was included in the project Klimaveien, in which organisations associated with road transport and environmental work sought to reduce CO₂ emissions from road traffic by 10 percent in 2009. Veidekke has achieved its part of this goal, with a reduction of 14.8 percent or emissions equivalent to 2,500 passenger cars, through the Industry Division's greenhouse gas reductions in the production of asphalt and crushed stone/gravel.

Veidekke participated in "The Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), in which the world's largest banks and financial institutions request information from the largest listed companies on their systems for emissions monitoring and management handling of the risks and opportunities of climate change. Veidekke was the construction company in Scandinavia which received the highest scores in the 2008 report, produced in spring 2009. Total direct emissions were estimated at 84,000 tonnes of CO₂, representing a decline of 23 percent from the year before. The decrease is the result of both systematic work and a drier summer (2008) than in recent years.